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Monday, January 04, 2010

Ground Beef and Sauerkraut Soup Recipe (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

Ground Beef and Sauerkraut soup is low-carb and gluten-free, and it's delicious!

(Updated and added to Favorites January 2010.) This is one of the Phase One recipes you could find in the new Index of South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen, and I first featured it on the blog in January 2007. Since then the recipe has accumulated a lot of fans. A faithful reader recently told me that she makes it every time she does Phase One, and mentioned it deserves be a recipe favorite. Then I made it over the weekend for my annual New Year's Day soup party, and a lot of people there raved about it too. When I went to lunch today with my friend Bonnie she told me her husband George loved this soup at the party. The signs from the universe are clear; it's time for this soup to be officially made a recipe favorite.

When I pick recipes to add to Recipe Favorites I usually look forward to updating the photo with a better one, but this time when I looked at the post I liked the original photo for this soup too, so I'm keeping it. I always eat this with sour cream, and I remember when I photographed it the first time I couldn't get the sour cream to look right so I used a photo without it! Sour cream or not, if you try this recipe it might become one of your favorites too!

Start by heating the oil, then cooking the ground beef until it's well-browned. Don't rush this, because browning adds flavor. (This is the batch of soup I was making for the party, so in these photos the recipe is doubled.)

When the beef is well-browned, add it to the soup pot and let the soup continue to simmer.

Heat more olive oil in the frying pan and saute the chopped onions 2-3 minutes, then add the minced garlic and saute 1-2 minutes more. Add the onions and garlic to the soup and simmer on low about one hour. (You want the sauerkraut to soften until it's almost melted into the soup.)

After an hour taste the soup to see if it seems too strong and add some water if needed. (Simmer a little longer if you add water.) Season to taste with a generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot, with or without sour cream.

Ground Beef and Sauerkraut Soup
(about 8 servings; I know I was inspired by a recipe I saw somewhere, but I can't remember where I saw it!)

When beef is well browned, add to soup in pot. Deglaze pan with a bit of the soup liquid, scraping off any browned bits, and add to soup.

Wipe out frying pan and add other 2 tsp. olive oil. Saute onions 2-3 minutes, until starting to soften, then add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes more. Add to soup, reduce heat under soup pot and let soup simmer at low heat about one hour. After an hour, taste for seasoning and add water if soup seems too strong. Simmer 15 minutes more if adding water. Season to taste with fresh-ground black pepper before serving. Serve hot, with sour cream if desired.

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Happy New Year, Kalyn! I'm so glad you're doing this--I've been meaning to search your site for Phase One recipes for weeks now. Looking forward to seeing what kind of breakfast ideas you're going to share.

We really enjoyed Sb when my hubby and I were doing it. Over the past few months life has occurred and then laziness and old BAD BAD BAD habit crept in and now we gotta start over. Gonna go shopping tomorrow to stock the kitchen with healthier SB items so we can hit P1 again.

This recipe looks like one to try....my mouth is watering already and I look forward to trying it! Your blog rocks!!!

You can tell I am back at school eight hours a day when I don't get time to reply to many comments. I hope no one takes it personally! I do read them all. Thanks everyone for letting me know that you are enjoying the phase one recipes.

I just wanted to let ya know that we tried this last night and really enjoyed it! I added sauteed mushrooms as I wanted a few more veggies in it and thought it would be a nice addition, and it was. It reminds us of something we'd get on the economy here in Germany....its very good with a rich and almost complicated flavor and yet easy to make. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!!

I almost skipped this recipe, this blog entirely, because I saw the South Beach theme, and I'm usually adverse to any diet recipes. Of course, this is utterly ridiculous because plenty of things I love are healthy anyway. I decided to push on and give it a shot and was hooked the second I saw this recipe. It was delicious and so is your blog.

Anonymous, I'm not actually sure how many Splenda packets would make a tablespoon, but I'd probably add 2 and then taste the soup. I think (but am not 100% sure) that the Splenda in the packets is more concentrated than the granular Splenda you use for baking. It should be just a slightly sweet-sour flavor.

The Frugal Gourmet cookbook has a similar soup made with pork. I use leftover pork roast/chops or even ground pork. I usually don't add any sweetener. It is awesome soup. It could definitely be made in a crockpot. A perfect soup for winter.

Minda, the South Beach books don't say anything about Agave that I've found, but since it contains fructose (the same type of sugar found in fruit) I usually consider it to be phase 2. However, in a soup like this, the tiny amount probably isn't a big deal.

Oh sauerkraut makes me smile! I can't get enough of it! YUM! Defnitely want to make this recipe, too...wondered if you have any nutritional info that goes along with it? I could figure out the points (weight watchers) on my own, but if you have it handy in a book, I'd LOVE that!

I made this tonight and LOVED it! I did rinse the sauerkraut before I put it in the soup as I was afraid it would be too strong. I would definitely make this again; my family loved it as well! My hubby made rice to accompany his soup so if your family isn't on south beach, this may be something to think about...

I am making the soup right now, it sounded yummy. I added some caraway seed which is supposed to offset the strong taste of sauerkraut. We are on phase one and I am trying to make meals ahead of time. (So we will have it for lunch tomorrow). I love your blog! I believe the south beach diet principles should be followed by everyone, it is a healthy and safe diet. I think it is great that you are posting SB friendly recipes that are so yummy and healthy.

Anonymous, when I originally lost my weight I made almost all my meals ahead and froze them. Having something you know is SB friendly ready to go really helps! Thanks for the kind words. I agree, everyone should eat this way.

I made this tonight, too. It looked great, it smelled delicious, and best of all, it tasted like the cabbage rolls from my favorite Polish restaurant back home. I decided to make it on the spur of the moment, and had to make a few substitutions to avoid running to the store (ground turkey instead of beef, broth made from bouillon cubes, stevia instead of Splenda). But it still turned out terrific.

Hi KalynThis soup is currently simmering for our dinner tonight and the house smells lovely. I am a huge fan of "anything cabbage" so I like to try any new recipes I see with this wonderful gift from the gods. Not sure if you have seen this article that I am referencing, but thought you would love to know that you are doing everything right with your wonderful ingredients. Thanks again for a great recipe idea.

Kalyn,I made this soup last night. My husband stood over the stove asking when it was his time to taste. The house smelled amazing! It was soooo good!!! I think its even better today as lunch. Just finished my last spoonful! Your recipes helped me look amazing for my wedding and continue to help me stay healthy and thinner :)

I'm sorry to say this wasn't a favorite of mine. And I'm a big fan of homemade soups and of sauerkraut. Not sure what it was about this soup, but I just dumped it in the sink. Keep 'em coming, though, I've loved every other recipe of yours that I've tried Kalyn!

Kalyn, I loved this soup. The tang of the sauerkraut was very palate pleasing, and the overall flavor was just terrific. I just posted a variation of your soup on my blog, including a link back to your blog for credit. Thank you for posting such amazing recipes. YUM!

I made this in the crock pot! I changed a few things. I used ground turkey, and all beef broth, and doubled the sauerkraut. I browned the turkey, and didn't bother cooking the onions first. I put all ingredients in the crockpot except the sauerkraut and let it cook on low for about 8 hours, then threw in the sauerkraut and let it cook for about an hour. It was super yummy! My boyfriend loved it too! I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow! Thanks for the great recipe!

I'm making this one for dinner tonight. My bf and I have nearly finished week 1 of Phase 1 and I was really desperate for some beef mince! It's simmering away at the moment (my bf is not impressed that he has to wait about an hour before he can eat it haha!) and smells delightful. Thankyou for all your SBD information and recipes, you've definitely made it easier at mealtimes!

Kayln, been a huge fan for years! Just made this soup with zero changes and it is amazing. I used 1 and 1/2 packets of Splenda since each packet is equal to 2 tsp (according to their website.) Thanks, Sharon

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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